Format: Print

It’s been quite a while since a book made me feel as emotional as In Memoriam did. Wow, just wow. I kept putting this book off thinking it wasn’t going to be for me and I’m so annoyed at myself now for not picking it up earlier.

The book is clearly so well researched. Reading it took me back to learning about WW1 at school (and writing trench diaries – although clearly Alice Winn’s writing is far far superior to a 13-year-old Zoe’s) and I could picture everything that the author described so vividly. There were numerous points where I was having to hold back my tears – the action at the Somme in particular was so hard hitting. And I was right there with the characters feeling the relief at being injured and therefore not at the front, while being guilty for not being there, and at the same time struggling to adapt to life not at the front. I genuinely do not know how people coped because reading about it was so hard, I can’t even begin to imagine living it.

I was drawn in by the characters, and particularly Gaunt and Ellwood’s relationship, and I think this is a real mark of how good Alice Winn’s writing is. On the face of it, I have absolutely nothing in common with any of the characters – I haven’t lived war to the same degree, I didn’t go to a private school etc. – and yet I truly felt for all of them. The bonds between all the characters, and the way that the relationship between them was just casually accepted was so heartwarming to read.

In Memoriam is a remarkable story. Harrowing and raw, and yet uplifting and romantic (in its own way). This is going to stay with me for a very long time